Making electrical bonds.



E. E. SLICK & C. W. PARKHURST` MAKING ELECTRICAL BONDS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 2a. |915.

1,255,059, Patented Jan. 29,1918,

l/V VEN TOH I UNITED STATES PATENT ',oEEIoE.

EDWIN E. SLICK AND CHARLES W. PARKHURST, OF WESTMONT BOROUGH, PENNSYL- VANIA.

MAKING ELECTRICAL BONDS.

Application led April 28, 1915. Serial N o. 24,567. r

T 0 all whom z't may concern.'

Be it known that we, EDWIN E. SLICK and CHARLES lV. PARKHURST, citizens of the United States, and residents of the borough ol' lVestmont, in the county of Cambria and State of Pennsylvania, '(whose post-oflce addresses are Johnstown, Pennsylvania,) have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Making Electrical Bonds; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it; appertains to make and use the same. A

Our invention relates to electrical connectors which are used to connect together the track rails of railways, the third rails and conduit rails of electrical railways and has for one of its objects the production of a bond of simple and easy construction, of ample carrying capacity and with the various parts so intimately joined that there is no reduction of their electric conductiv-l ity, thereby forming a connection of high electrical efhciency.

Our invention relatesl to forming and securing the terminals tothe ends of a cable, rod, wire or other intermediate portion of the bond, whereby a perfect union is effected, while the terminal is so constructed as to be easily and perfectly connected electrically to the rails or other conductors, and the intermediate portions may be flexible to allow for expanslon, contraction, or adjust'- ment around obstacles such as splice bars, bolts, nuts, etc.

In making our bond, we form the terminals by Ycasting or drop forging or otherwise shaping the same, having an outwardly extending riveting plug portion adapted to be inserted in a reamed hole in the rail or other member and upset and riveted firmly therein, the portion of the terminal directly opposite said riveting plug being formed of Solid metal integral with the plug and of ample surface to receive a backing-up tool or that portion of the riveting tool which holds the plug firmly in place, while the rivet itself is being upset in the hole or `driven by a riveting or upsetting machine invention and obviates difficulties previously I had when the rear portion of the plug 1s speciacatioa of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 29, 1918.

made hollow or partially so or not really solid, in which case it is upset or deformed by the pressure of the backing-up tool when held against it for the purpose of holding it when upsetting the rivet in the bond hole.

Extending from the back portion of the.

riveting plug the backing continues integrally and at an inclination thereto to a socket of preferably cylindrical form for the purposev of economy.

The round or cylindrical ends of these terminals may be made hollow in the first place, if desired, when casting or forging them to receive the cable or rod, or they may be made solid throughout and a hole bored or 'drilled in the cylindrical end to receive the twisted cable or other flexible intermediate member. The cable or rod is then introduced into the cylindrical hole in the terminal extending almost to the end of said hole, and in the space adjacent to the end of the cable a piece or pieces of metal of the same general character or fillings or chips of the same are introduced and a hot flame is applied and more pieces or chips of metal are added if necessary, whereby the end of the cable or rod is fused and the opening is filled up with fused metal which causes the end of the rod or cable to become homogeneously 4united with the terminal, whereupon the hot flame is withdrawn and the terminal with the attached cable or rod is allowed tocool and, if desired, may be annealed by plunging in water when hot.

For the purpose of making this connection between the cable or rod and the terminal, we prefer to use an Oxy-acetylene blow-pipe flame and may use pieces of scrap metal such as copper or scrap copper wire and melt the same in or into the opening previously mentioned. f

Previous to introducing this extra metal intol the opening, we may direct the hot fiame on the end of the cable or rod, paris closed and the end of the cable integrally united to the terminal. If necessary and desired the slight amount of excess metal may be ground, filed or otherwise trimmed ofi',

to make the desired conformation. If desired, we may project the end of the cable slightly beyond the hole and fuse this to theJ sleeve without adding other metal. l

The axis of the end of the terminal which receives the cable is arranged at an angle tothe axis of the riveting plu-g so that the cable or rod projects from the terminal to the proper degree to pass around the splice bars or other constructions adjacent thereto, this form of connection being particularly adapted to what is known as an outside bond which passes around the splice bar of the rail and preferably below the heads or nuts of the splice bars.

The construction of the terminals is such that the cable is led in the right direction without deformation, while at the same time the solid metal of the terminal back of the riveting plug insures that the plug can be held solidly for the purpose of setting and riveting it into the open hole of the rail or other conductor.

Having given a general description of our invention, we will now, in order to make the same more clear, refer to the accompanying one sheet of drawings annexed to this speciication which illustrates the method of constructing abond and the bond itself in accordance with our invention, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of one of the terminals which may be madeD in the first place with a cylindrical hole therein, as indicated by dotted lines within the figure, or this terminal may be made solid and the hole drilled therein, -as also indicated by the dotted lines within and without the figure;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the terminal;Y Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation illustrating the manner of fusing the bond cable to the terminalby means of a blowpipe flame and added material; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the finished terminal after the cable is fused or welded therein; Fig. 5 is a bottom plan View of finished end of the terminal with a portion, of the cable attached therein, and Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional plan of a pair of rails united by the customary splice bars and bolts with ourloond shown in place connecting the ends of the rails, this View clearly showing the value of the inclined portions ,2 of the terminals and the manner in which they lead and direct the cable around the splice bars without unnecessary bending of the cable. l y

Referring now to the characters of reference on the drawings :--1 is the terminal casting as a whole and 2 the cylindrical inclined body portioli the riveting or attaching plug-having ahead 4 with a curved or fillet connection 5 between the inclined cylindrical body portion 2 and the head 4. A conical depression 6 is formed in the end of the riveting plug 3 to register with a corresponding projection on the riveting or upsetting tool. The back of the riveting plug is provided with a solid integral portion 7, which-preferably has a Hat surface as shown, to receive the backing-up tool to rmly hold the plug in place when expanding or riveting it into the bond hole. As shown in Fig. l, the cylindrical portion.V 2 may be formed hollow in the first place, orby drilling or boring its central portion to form the sleeve 8, the inner edge 9 of which is rounded, as shown, so that the cable may'bend around this rounded edge without cutting or deformation, this being a particular feature Yof ourconstruction. As indicated particularly in Fig. 3, 10 indicates added` material such as scrap pieces of metal or metal wire which are placed within the opening in the terminal adjacent to the end of the cable and which are fused and Welded therein to thecable by the blow-pipe flame 1l, issuing from the nozzle 12. We prefer to use for this purpose an Oxy-acetylene flame, as it furnishes van easily controlled high temperature. The

sleeve in such a way as to leave a small space therein adjacent to its end, after which added metal is placed within or above the opening and fused therein, whereby the end of cable and the terminal are securely welded together and formed substantially integral at this place so as to make a perfect electrical connection. rlhe sleeve 2 of the terminal forms a protector for the end of the cable and insures that the cable shall remain united to the terminal, while the rounded inner edge 9 of the sleeve allows the cable to be bent as desired withoutcutting or distorting the same.

Although we have shown and described our invention in considerable detail, we do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction specified, but we' may use such substitutions, modifications or equivalents thereof as are embraced within the scope of our invention as pointed out in the claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The method of forming an electric bond which consists of inserting a cable within a surrounding sleeve, then fusing the end of said cable and part of said sleeve adjacent thereto, by applying a melting heat to the end of the cable to unite the ends of the strands thereof, said heat being so localized that the adjacent interior portions of the sleeve are also fused, joining the cable thereto, whereby an electric-junction is had.

2. The method of forming an electric bond which consists in inserting a rod or cable within a sleeve, leaving an opening adjacent to the endthereof, applying a melting heat to the end of said cable tounite the 11M strands thereof, then fusing metal Within said opening, the heat being so localized that the adjacent parts of the sleeve are also fused, thereby integrally joining the end of said cable to said sleeve.

3. The method of forming an electric bond which consists of inserting a vcable part way into an inclosing sleeve, then fusing metal of similar composition in and filling said opening, whereby the end of said cable and said sleeve -are integrally united.

4. The method of forming an electric bond which consists in providing a terminal, then forming an opening in sald terminal, then inserting a cable or rod into said opening, leaving a space adjacent to the end of said cable, then filling said space with metal while applying a melting flame thereto, thereby integrally uniting the end of said cable to said sleeve.

5. The method of forming an electric bond which consists in inserting a cable into a surrounding sleeve closely fitting the sides thereof, then fusing the end of said cable,

by applyingheat to its end, thereby uniting the strands thereof, said heat being so localized that the adjacent interior portions of said sleeve are fused, whereby an integral connection is provided between the sleeve and the cable.

6. The method of forming an electric bond which consists of inserting a cable part way into a surrounding sleeve closely fitting the sides thereof, leaving an open space adjacent to the end of said cable, then applying a melting heat to the end of said cable to unite the strands thereof, said heat heilig so localized that the adjacent interior portlons of the sleeve are fused, then fusing metal insaidspace, thus integrally joining the end of said cable to said sleeve.

In Witness whereof We have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two witnesses. EDWIN E. SLICK.

CHARLES W. PARKHURST. Witnesses: A

OLIVER B. HIcKox, ELMER SEAVEY. 

